Britain's richest street: The place by the palace, where the average house price is £19.5m

By ARTHUR MARTIN and JAMES MCMEEKIN


The figure is 93 times the national average house price of £205,985. Even a single square foot of land in the street would cost you £1,193.


They are beyond the reach of mere mortals. In fact, the homes in Kensington Palace Gardens would be too pricey even for many celebrities, bankers and lottery winners.

A string of eye-watering property deals has helped to turn it into Britain’s most expensive street.

The average price of a mansion in the affluent road in Kensington, West London, is an astonishing £19.2million, according to a study by property company Zoopla.

Britain’s richest man Lakshmi Mittal, a steel magnate worth £23.8billion, bought one of the houses for £57million from the Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004, and renamed it Taj Mittal.

Since then he has bought another home on an adjoining street for a record £117million from hedge fund tycoon Noam Gottesman.


Pricey: The Boltons in Kensington is among the most expensive streets it the UK. Just a single square foot of land in the London borough now costs £1,193


Residents of Kensington Palace Gardens also include Jon Hunt, who founded Foxtons estate agency which he sold for £390million in 2007.

An extraordinary subterranean playground is being built which will house a tennis court, health centre and a private motor museum for his six vintage Ferraris.


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The property tycoon is thought to have rejected an offer of £200million for his eight-bedroom home from Mr Mittal’s son Aditya in 2008.

One of his even wealthier neighbours, Russian oligarch Leonid Blavatnik, is also building a massive underground extension for a swimming pool, gym and private cinema.

Mr Blavatnik, who has made at least £4.7billion in the oil business, outbid Mr Mittal and Roman Abramovich in 2004 with an offer of £41million for the 15-bedroom property.

The street’s allure is helped by Kensington Palace, set back from the road on the eastern side. The former home of Princess Diana is still the residence of several minor royals.


Both ends of the street are manned by armed Diplomatic Protection Group officers because it houses several embassies, including those of Israel and Russia.

As prices in the street soared in the past decade the makers of Monopoly chose it as the top square on the board ahead of Mayfair.


The second most expensive street is The Boltons, Kensington, where the average house is £13.3million, with Frognal Way, Camden, third at £10.6million. In fact the top ten expensive streets are all in London.

Virginia Water in Surrey - home to Wentworth Golf Club - is the seventh most expensive postal district in the country, with an average house price of £937,419.

The survey found 5,922 streets nationwide where the average home is more than £1million. Of these, 2,290 are in London, followed by 89 in Guildford and 78 in Cobham, both in Surrey.

Nick Leeming, from Zoopla.co.uk, said: 'Our study has found an enormous gulf between prices at the lowest and highest ends of the property market.

'A home in Britain's most exclusive street is beyond the wildest dreams of all but an extremely wealthy elite.

'At a whopping £19.2million, even National Lottery winners would now struggle to afford a house on Billionaire's Row.

'Those who aspire to live in a wealthy area, surrounded by celebrities, will also need a reality check.


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'With a single square foot of land in Kensington costing £1,193, it is well out of the price range of your typical British homeowner.

'People have always been obsessed with the value of their home as well as those of neighbours, friends and family.

'Our rich list will give those who live on streets near the top of the list some serious bragging rights.'




source: dailymail